The indigenous housekeeper: Colonies, sexuality and eugenics inBendsjé(1931),Le coup de chicotte(1930) andWie Grete aufhörte ein Kind zu sein(1913)

Abstract

AbstractAs colonial regimes became more entrenched, the African indigenous ‘housekeeper’ became a popular and highly controversial topic in Belgian and German colonial literature. Indigenous women were euphemistically calledménagèresor ‘housekeepers’ to veil their sexual function at a colonial's residence. In a period of history where racial and eugenic anxieties ran rampant across Europe, the colonies seemingly eluded the increasingly frustrated European homeland's social and eugenic control. Given the ambiguous and controversial status of the indigenous housekeeper, this theme triggered a wide range of literary responses across different countries and in various languages, particularly by ex‐colonials. Ernest Tilemans'sBendsjé of de Liefde der N[*](1931), Mathelin de Papigny'sLe coup de chicotte(1930) and Hans Grimm'sWie Grete aufhörte ein Kind zu sein(1913) illustrate this variety by, respectively, attempting to absolve individual male colonials, presenting the phenomenon as proof of the colonies' ‘corrupting’ influence or to conduct fictional social and eugenic colonial experiments. Regardless of their approach, all three works instrumentalise eugenic vocabulary and imagery to draw an otherwise private male sexuality into the public sphere. Moreover, these works demonstrate colonial writing's function as a vital tool for social and eugenic observation and control.